Science for the Kiddies
by trapt-tage
Summary: Oneshot. Ryosuke gets a visit to his office from a teenager of whom will need a reteaching of science class before he can explain exactly what is 'wrong' with her to her father.


AN: Something funny, because...well, I've never done funny before. But really this is for EG, because dear girl, I figure this will do just as much good as when _I _gave the lecture on 'sucking forces.' Cheers, love!

Disclaimer: I don't own Initial D.

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The nurse rapped stiffly on the door, before opening it and stepping inside.

"Sir, Mr. Garner has arrived for the appointment he had set." Having said her only piece, she turned and walked primly back the way she came, and back into the hall, leaving Takahashi Ryosuke staring at his newest patient.

"Hello, sir," Ry started, as he rose from his swivel chair.

"Uh…yes, hello. Really this appointment wasn't for me, it was for my daughter. She just needs a…routine physical, and I was just hoping you could…take a look at her neck, too." The stereotype that doctors make one nervous was usually, as Ry had come to find out, true. No matter who you are, if you see a man in a sterile white coat, you're gonna start sweating, or so it seemed. Just another one of the menial occurrences that one realizes as a medical student.

Ry looked to the man's left as a young girl stepped out from behind her father. From the looks of it, she couldn't be over 17, and she most definitely was still high school age. A physical didn't sound like it would be too hard, it was all a matter of "Okay, say Awhh," and "Does this hurt?" and a neck examination didn't sound like it was going to bring any massive amounts of excitement either, but oh well, at least he didn't have to observe at the surgical ward today.

"Ah. Well, come on in, have a seat," Ry said, while making a gesture towards the three chairs sitting against the wall of the examination room. The father took the invitation to sit, but the girl opted to stand, seemingly uncomfortable; shifting from foot to foot.

Ry closed the door and began his questioning. Before he ever so much as looked twice at any of his patients, he had to ask the usual "Check-up questions." Other than questions about the forms and paperwork, his questions included 'When had she last had a doctor's visit?' 'Had she experienced any health related issues or troubles since her last visit?' and finally, 'What brings you here?'

"Well, she came to get a regular physical, but also…I think she may be having an allergic reaction to something. It looks like something like hives have broken out on her neck…" Ry wasn't really too intrigued; he could think of about three dozen things more interesting than prescribing medication for allergies, but he wasn't exactly being given a choice, so he proceeded with his questioning.

"Have you ever shown any signs of allergies to anything before now?" He asked, directing his questions at the girl this time. She seemed a little shy, and didn't really appear to want to speak at all.

"…uhh, well…no…"

"Can you think of anything else that may have caused it?"

"U-uhh…no…"

"Alright then." Ry stood from his swivel chair, where he had taken a seat, and walked towards the girl. He asked her to tilt her head so that he could get a look at the problem. "I'm just gonna check out this little 'reaction,' and see if it's allergies or not…" he said in his 'professional doctor' voice.

This girl again got shy, and wouldn't look the doctor in the eye, but she reluctantly titled her head slightly to the side, allowing him a clear view of her neck.

"See? It's just that little area there. I can't imagine what could have caused it…." the father spoke again, trying to help. Ry took one look at the area of the girl's neck in question, and a knowing smile crept its way onto his lips.

"Well, we reserve the option for children and adolescents to have a say in whether or not their parents are in the examination room during their check up. Usually the trend in teenagers is to request that the parents leave, but…it's all up to her…" he said, letting go of the girl's chin, changing the subject and ignoring the father's question all at the same time. He could tell that the statement threw off the other two people in the room a little, but he looked at the girl, trying to tell her which way to choose only with his eyes.

She seemed a tad confused (and still mysteriously embarrassed…), but she got the message, and nodded her head before saying, "Yeah…um, daddy? Could you…go outside?"

The father seemed a bit surprised by the question, and he looked from his daughter to Ry, hoping for some explanation or, better yet, a way around it. Ry only raised his eyebrows expectantly, and the father slowly stood up, heaving a sigh, and walked towards the door. It was easy to tell that he wasn't so sure about leaving his daughter alone with a male doctor (especially with as young as Ry was).

When the door closed, and the two of them were left alone in the room, Ry told the girl to hop up on the examination table. He simply began the check-up. It was a minute or so later when he finally began speaking, and even then he was talking about something totally off-topic.

"So, where do you go to school…Elizabeth, your name is?" Ry said, reading the name off of his papers. He knew that making light conversation would help the girl get more comfortable. Conversation was encouraged between doctors and patients. Ry didn't exactly think it totally necessary in some cases, but he figured that, in this instance, it would definitely be of use.

"Umm…Akagi High School, the main city school…" she answered somewhat shyly. She hadn't seemed to loosen up much at all, even with her father out of the room. She was still blushing.

"Akagi? I know the place, I'm an alumni. I used to go there." Ry said, trying to gain her trust with a little common ground. She merely nodded her head without looking him in the eyes.

"Tell me, is Mr. Gott still teaching science down there?"

"For Sophomores, yeah…" she didn't take as long to answer this time, and Ry could tell that talking about school and things she was comfortable with was making her slightly more confident. She was able to speak more openly, even if she was still a little awkward, and even if she still only spoke a few sentences at a time. At a glance, she still looked a little jittery.

"What grade are you in, you're a sophomore? A junior?" Ry asked, knowing that mentioning a grade higher than hers would boost her confidence. Really, he had no need for the questions, he already had all the information listed with her personal information on his papers. He already knew the answers, but he felt he had to ask.

"A Sophomore, I have Mr. Gott now." She said, with her chest held a tad bit puffed outward. Ry had already expected that. All sophomore's had Mr. Gott.

"Ah. Good. Advanced Physics, or no?"

"Yeah, I have AP." She moved as Ry continued his examination.

"Yes, you looked bright…"Ry said, using all the one-liners and all the adult charm he had on his side. "So, does he still teach that High and Low Pressure Unit with the hand vacuums?"

"Umm...yeah, I kinda remember it…it was last semester," she answered sheepishly, thinking pathetic that she could hardly remember something for a few months ago, when this man remembered it from years ago. Ry only smiled at her reaction.

"I remember some kids in my class - remember this is the AP class - would put those vacuums on their skin somewhere, and start the suction just for fun. Wha--"

"Did you ever?" Apparently she was comfortable enough to get engaged in the conversation and to start interrupting him. Ry only chuckled this time.

"No, I never did."

"Oh."

Ry moved the conversation back to the track that he wanted it on. "But anyway, Gott said that he would drop any kid that messed around with those vacuums a whole letter. And he did too. Do you know how he knew which kids had messed around with those?" He moved to stand directly in front of her and she finished her physical. With only the slight interruptions of "open your mouth." or "turn your head to the right, please" and the like, the conversation had run smoothly up to this point.

"Umm…he saw them?" she guessed. Ry just let the question hang as he moved on. With the physical complete, the only issue that was left was to address that little matter of her neck…

"So, Elizabeth," Ry could practically see the poor girl automatically tense just at his tone of voice. She knew what was coming… "About this 'allergic reaction...'"

Elizabeth revered back to her shy, shifty, embarrassed side that she had had on when she had first walked into the room.

"U-umm…yeah…" he cut her off, if only for the sake of putting her out of her stuttering misery.

"Do you remember anything from that High/Low Pressure unit?"

"What--"

"Anything at all?" He could tell that the question surprised her, so he let her think about it.

"Umm…if there's high pressure outside of something, there's low pressure on the inside..?" She said, not know where he was going with the topic. Ry on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing, and was glad to see that the conversation was playing out so easily for him.

"Good. Also, if you put a vacuum over the opening of an other-wise closed container, the vacuum will suck the air out of the container, creating low pressure on the inside, and high pressure on the outside. When the vacuum sucks most or all of the air out, the force will then pull on the walls of the container itself - sometimes so strongly that the container walls will collapse in on themselves if they are made of a flimsy enough material."

"Yeah, we used pop cans in class, and that's what happened…" she barely finished her sentence before Ry continued on with his explanation.

"Mr. Gott knew which kids had messed around with the vacuums, because the next day those kids came in with big red spots wherever they had put the vacuums to their skin. On their hands, face, and...neck, even," Ry didn't miss her eye widen marginally at that. "The force of the vacuum had latched onto their skin, and the pull was so intense that it killed a good deal of skin cells in that immediate area."

Ry finally stopped his speech to let what he had said sink in for a moment. At long last she spoke.

"But…that was months ago, and…I didn't do that with the vacuum tools…" she was confused. Ry's knowing smile was back. He put his hand on her shoulder, and looked her in the eyes.

"I know that Elizabeth. I know that it wasn't a vacuum or an allergic reaction that gave you that mark, but I get the feeling that I would be a little embarrassing to discuss what _did_ give you that mark with your _father_."

She softly cleared her throat, and jutted her chin down far enough to hit her chest. Ry hated the thought, but he could hardly hold back his chuckles. She reminded him of Keisuke, the first time Ry had discovered a similar red mark on the side of his neck. The blush they had both gotten at the mention of the word 'suck' proved that they most definitely shared the same affliction.

"Elizabeth, as long as what you're doing is safe and you don't lose your head, I don't see anything _wrong_ with what you're doing, Hell, you're just being a teenager…" he paused, and she lifted her head slightly. "As for your father…" her face flushed, and this time, instead of just her eyes facing the floor, now her shoulders slumped, bending her neck down and hanging her head in defeat. "…I don't know just how much he needs to be told." It almost became a game, watching her head and hopes go up and down with each phrase he said.

"You mean…you won't tell him?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, I need to give him some sort of explanation, and I don't intend to blame it on hives; it would be a shame to prescribe you medicine for allergies you don't have…so this time, when I ask you, 'Did you play with the hand vacuums in Science class?' What will you say?"

"Yes I did, sir! And you should see the mark that thing left on my neck! It must have kill lots of cells with all that sucking!"

Ry made the girl edit the last phrase out, but other than that, her answer seemed satisfactory, and her father seemed quite fooled by it when at last he was welcomed back into the room. He thanked and apologized to Ry in turns, being so glad that the mark was nothing serious and so sorry to trouble the doctor at the same time.

The father and daughter left the examination office, and Ry stood smiling in the middle room thinking over how similar Elizabeth and his younger brother were…at least regarding matters to do with a sucking force and the side of their necks…

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AN: And the only difference between this and the real thing was that the real thing involved a ceramics class instead of a doctor's office, and no, there were no father's involved, either.


End file.
